The ANCYL in the Province was disbanded in 2012, with the Frances Baard, John Taolo Gaetsewe and ZF Mgcawu regions being led by regional task teams and provincial task teams.

The branches said that Teki, who is also the spokesperson for the Department of Co-operative Governance, Human Settlements and Traditional Affairs, appealed to the youth and also “mingled with people on the ground”.

“He is the front runner at this point ... there is not much of a contest between him and the few hopefuls who may be standing for the position. Teki is the only one of the existing executive members who is eligible to be re-elected, as the others are all ageing beyond the cut-off date of 35 years. You will usually find him in Galeshewe.”

Teki was dubbed “Mr Moneybags” on social media, where he was pictured driving fancy cars and wearing designer label clothing.

Branch members stated that this was also part of his appeal, as young people aspired to living flashy lifestyles and wanted to enjoy the finer things in life.

Teki confirmed that he would accept the nomination to lead the youth league, although he pointed out that it was up to the branches to vote in the new leadership.

“I cannot nominate myself, it is not part of the culture of the ANCYL for leaders to pronounce themselves,” said Teki.

“The branches can choose anyone to lead the ANCYL. Any member of the ANCYL has a right to vote and to be voted for. If the branches are of the view that I must lead as the chairperson of the ANCYL in the Province, then that would be a decision of branches.”

Teki denied that he was living a lavish lifestyle.

“These perceptions are created by faceless people who have an interest in creating an impression that I’m detached from reality and from the lives of ordinary young people. One of the absurd narratives is that I own a Ferrari and that at one point I owned a house in Plettenberg Bay.

“I just want to clarify that, while I like things, I am not a lavish person. I have worked hard for everything that I own. What you see on Facebook is not always a true reflection of reality.”

Teki pointed out that anyone between the age of 14 to 35 years could contest the leadership of the ANCYL.

“The beauty of ANCYL internal democracy is that anyone eligible has a right to be voted in. Nominations can even come from the floor. It is very much an open process.”

He added that should he be elected, it would be up to the ANC to decide on whether he could continue being employed by the state.

“I do not want to put the cart before the horse, although these are things that any government official who stand for a leadership position will need to take into consideration.

“However, there is nothing stopping a state official from occupying political office.”

ANCYL provincial secretary Neo Maneng indicated that no date had been set yet to elect the new ANCYL leadership.

“Conference is long overdue and a new executive will have to be voted in due to the ages of the current leadership. We will discuss the upcoming conference at the next provincial committee meeting,” said Maneng.

The Frances Baard ANCYL regional task team co-ordinator, Sandiseni Sithole, stated that their branches would pronounce on who they would be backing for the ANCYL chairperson.

“For now we are concentrating on rebuilding our branches.”

He added that the region would also be electing a new leadership in the near future.

“Everyone has their own theories as to who will be the new leader. We have full confidence in the current leadership under Mbinqo-Gigaba and Maneng to provide guidance until we go to conference. The date will be set by the Provincial Executive Committee of the ANCYL. We do not know who else is contesting.”